The UK government may start a campaign designed to put Bulgarian and Romanian citizens off the idea of coming to Britain in search of work or a new life from 2014, according to several reports in the UK press.

Since the admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU in 2007, their citizens have faced special restrictions on their freedom of movement and labour, while other nations’ workers have been able to seek work in the UK – and other EU nations.

Poland joined the EU in 2004, with the number of Polish-born people in the UK jumping from 75,000 in 2003 to 532,000 in 2010, according to Office for National Statistics data. The combined population of Bulgaria and Romania is just below that of Poland, and the three countries all enjoy a similar level of per capita wealth.

Migration Watch UK, a broadly anti-migrant pressure group, estimates around 50,000 immigrants to the UK each year from the new EU members, while the UK government has not produced an official estimate.

A source at the Home Office has told The Guardian: “It is true that options are being looked at, but we are not commenting on the specific things mentioned… we will bring forward any proposals in due course.”

The Guardian suggests that the best way to scare off would-be immigrants would be mentioning the rain, lack of jobs and low pay.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mirror gets a little more creative, with its mocked-up campaign mentioning horse-contaminated burgers, X Factor star Rylan Clark and the poor behaviour of professional footballers, as well as foul-mouthed comic Frankie Boyle, bombastic TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson and London Mayor Boris Johnson.